Indierock | Alternative CD 550 Items

Though he only released a few singles (on the legendary independent labels Bus Stop & Parasol) and the classic 1993 album “Sandbox” (recorded with a cast of friends that included Adam Schmitt, Patrick Hawley, Jay Bennett, Steve Scariano and Nick Rudd), Erik Voeks’ music has resonated deeply with a small but dedicated group of pop and powerpop fans around the world. “Lost treasure,” “hidden gem” are expressions often used to describe “Sandbox,” which is now, for the first time in its 30th anniversary, being reissued on vinyl by Hanky Panky Records along with a CD that brings together 8 demos of the album, his two singles for the Bus Stop label and a previously unreleased original track, “Pristine”. For years Erik kept a low profile, but never stopped recording music, playing with friends like The Octopus Frontier, or even touring the United States and Europe with Jon Dee Graham. In late 2012, Spring Records released a 4-song EP titled “Free Range” on vinyl, which received rave reviews. Since then, Erik has kept busy putting out more new recordings through his bandcamp page, playing live shows, and touring Spain a couple of times. In 2016, Hanky Panky released “So The Wind Won't Blow It All Away” his first full-length album in over 20 years. The album garnered much critical acclaim and was the #1 album of the year on John Borack's influential “Power Pop Plus List.” After touring Spain in 2017 as Erik Voeks & The Spanglish Settlement, Erik, Juan Ferrari, Pepe Bermejo, and Patrick Hawley decided to record an album together. Plans were made for the four of them to reunite in Spain to finish the album, but the pandemic interfered and the recording process took a long and winding road. But better late than never, as they say: “It Means Nothing To Me Now” was finally released in early 2024 under the Erik Voeks & The Ghosters moniker.. “Pure pop magic,” says the Powerpopaholic website, and who are we to disagree?

«Moor rooM pulsates with exuberance and possesses that fascinating depth of sound and conceptual field that most lack» (Ruta 66) Cancer Moon was a rock music group founded in Bilbao (Basque Country, Spain) in 1988. As a group they did not officially disband, but in 1996 they ceased their public activity. The group produced a sound between noise rock and alternative rock, which in those 90s began to emerge in Spain with groups like Surfin' Bichos, 713avo Amor or The Pantano Boas. They are considered one of the founding groups of noise in Spain.1 Cancer Moon handled among their influences groups like The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth or Television. They published three albums, each one on a different label due to their problems in finding a record company in which they fit: Hunted by the snake (1990), Flock, colibri, oil (1992) and Moor room (1994). The latter was chosen as the best national album of the year by the music magazine Rockdelux.

Øresund Space Collective (øsc), formed in 2004, is a totally improvising Scandinavian space rock band and has been releasing albums since 2006. The band has played concerts & festivals all over Europe. Their music is quite diverse and influenced by the ever-changing line up in the collective. Picks From Space was a Cd-r series produced by Dr Space between 2005-2007. The collective during this time period was primarily the members of the bands Mantric Muse (dk), Bland Bladen (se), and The Carpet Knights (se). The main players being: Magnus (guitar and synth), Sebbe (guitar), Tobias (guitar), Jocke (bass), Michael (bass), Dave (bass), Kaufmann (drums), Søren (drums), Ola (synths), Mogens (synths), Dr Space (synths) plus additional players like Solvi (guitar), Eduardo (guitar), and a few others…. There were 12 CDs in the series. Each disc was a mixture of usually one or two rehearsal room jams with the exception of Disc 11, which was unreleased studio material (most but not all of which has appeared now). It is estimated about 50 complete sets were burned and exist. A few volumes exist in more copies as they were more popular and there was a period where you could buy them separately. During the covid period, Dr Space found most of the original recordings and was able to greatly improve the sound on most of the recordings. This is what you hear on this limited-edition set starting with some tracks from the very first Jam session in April 2004 to one of the last regular jams in 2007. There are some of the best jams the band ever had in this very inspired series of music exploring the early origins of the band. Artwork by David Graham